Dear Friends
Here is a news update for this week.
A little word
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God. Psalm 42.5 (& 42.11 & 43.5)
Psalms 42 & 43 form three verses with a repeated refrain (as above). It opens with ‘as the deer pants for the water’, familiar to many. They are an internal conversation. The Psalmist feels a remoteness and longs for a resurgence of a previous feeling of closeness to God. It fits well with those Advent themes of Darkness to Light. It has resonances of CBT, of recognising your feelings, reminding yourself that it hasn’t always been so, and hoping and longing to feel different again. It is well worth reading and reflecting upon.
Things to pray for
- Give thanks that God is present even when we don’t feel it.
- For all the opportunities to engage with schools as we approach Christmas.
- For Will & Lucy Gowers as they prepare to join us next summer.
Services
All-age Worship in Christ Church at 10am.
This week’s readings are: Isaiah 11.1-10 & Matthew 3.1-12
Refreshments to follow.
Sunday evening at 7pm.
Advent reflection.
10am on Thursday
Holy Communion is now back at Christ Church in the Welcome Centre, followed by Lunch Club.
Advent Course – Thursdays
7.00 arrivals for 7.15 start, finish by 8.45, in the lounge.
The course is ‘Travelling Light’ and it focuses on the comings and goings of biblical characters, particularly in passages related to Advent and Christmas, to see what light they shed on our own Christian journeys.
Informal worship options
During our Big Question follow-up there were a number of folk who expressed a desire to add to our worship offering by (re) starting (up) something new and informal. If you are interested in contributing to that conversation, please come along to a meeting in the Welcome Centre Lounge on Saturday 3 December at 9.30am.
If you can’t come to the meeting but would like to express ideas or interest let Pip or Huw know.
A new Curate
We are delighted to announce that Will Gowers will be joining us as a stipendiary (full time) Curate next summer. He will move in June with wife Lucy, and daughters Eloise and Phoebe. Will and Lucy both come from Sheffield, he trained as an actor, and worked as Youth Minister at St John’s Owlerton before Ordination training at Trinity Bristol. We hold them all in our prayers in the coming months.
Free money for church
Easyfundraising is a simple way to donate to Christ Church with lots of your on-line shopping. It is often only a few pence per transaction but soon mounts up if there are quite a few people doing it. We’ve just been sent £30 and that’s with only a couple of us using it.
Use this link to get started
Theatre Production
Victor Mujakachi and Endalk Sisay are both asylum seekers living in Sheffield. Their stories are at the heart of this new musical which celebrates our city, the UK’s first City of Sanctuary. Tues 13 – Thu 15 Dec at Library Theatre. Details here Library Theatre: Sanctuary | Sheffield Theatres
Keeping up
Reminders of contact details:
Maureen (for admin queries). office@pitsmoor.church, 07765 232789.
Pip (for everything else!). vicar@pitsmoor.church, 07799944436.
Earlier news
Previous editions of this news update are on the website if you can’t find it in your in-box.